Beautiful Art and Some Stories With Heart

Here are some gems I just found at my local bookstore:


1. A great anchor text for a poetry unit tied to history.


The picture book The Enormous Smallness: A Story of E.E. Cummings Written by Matthew Burgess and illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo is such a beautiful way to introduce E.E. Cummings to students. It is rooted in historical detail while blooming with personal flourishes to show students that they can use poetry to share their feelings. It really gives the reader an appreciation of how groundbreaking his style was. It has so many possible  applications for lessons in the classroom. A poetry unit could tie to the history of what life was like during World War I. The use of telegrams, travel by ship, or the Krazy Kat comic strip that was popular in newspapers could be introduced to students through this book. The message of trusting yourself and finding a way to share your unique voice is poignant and I'm looking forward to teaching a poetry unit tied to history with this book as an anchor text.

Cover




One of my favorite pages showing E.E. Cummings' inspiration from nature.
This would make such a wonderful statement in the classroom.




2. A wonderful anchor text for social & emotional learning.

The Adventures of Beekle: The unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat drew my attention at first for the stupendous art (it won a Caldecott Gold medal) but as I read the message won me over. My love for this story grew as I traveled into the touching world that Dan Santat wove with a heartfelt message to both be the maker of your own destiny, and to allow yourself to be open to the joy that might find you if you allow it to. I love that the main character doesn't wait to be saved. A rich discussion could be gained from using this text, and it touches on several important topics. The perspective from which this story is narrated is clever and I think it will resonate with students from kindergarten through 6th grade. I could see students doing art projects to depict what their imaginary friend wold look like and writing about their character traits in creative ways. I might have to start the next school year with this text as a getting to know you activity. The message of this book is so relatable, that we are stronger together, and that we must have imagination. 



Cover
the story begins
beautiful contrast



3. A great text for science in the 5th grade.

The Next Generation Standards for 5th grade have a section for human impact and the Earth Systems that could utilize this text. It stresses the difference that one person can make to their community. It has wonderful art and the message is engaging. I love how it pairs community activism with the message that our choices make a difference in the world around us. It could lead to an important discussion with students about how one person's passion can inspire others. For younger grades it could be a great text to discuss the seasons or even the importance of setting goals and planning for the future.
Cover and an additional page

A fun image promoting literacy

Hard at work




4. A whimsical text to introduce the power of wordplay

Little Master Carroll: Jabberwocky (A Nonsense Primer) provides the opportunity to showcase literature that utilizes an interesting technique. It would be an excellent lesson to prompt students to examine the text and infer meaning. They could use the fun pictures to help and discuss what the invented words remind them of and why they think Lewis Carroll invented them.
Cover

Text is broken down by page with fun illustrations

I love the imagination


These Picture books will be a hit.

Through these engaging texts even reluctant readers will be pulled into the discussions that are bound to occur in your classroom. They use illustrations that reminds me of comic book art to entice the reader to see what the next page holds. I was struck by the meaningful topics that these seemingly simple picture books could spark. From an introduction to the structure of prose, to the power that wordplay contains, these anchor texts are sure to add some excitement to your Common Core powered classroom. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Narrative Input Charts (GLAD)

Image
 I'm so grateful that I was able to become a GLAD certified educator early in my career. This week long training I took several years ago has really changed the way I teach and stuck with me. While I have a lot to learn, there are some strategies that I use regularly in my classroom. Narrative Input Charts are one of my favorite strategies to get students excited, connected, and thinking to our learning material. Top Tips For Narrative Input Charts: 1. Choose a powerful text  Whenever possible use texts from perspectives that might be missing in your curriculum. At the beginning of the year I use Narrative Input Charts to show the perspective of the Indigenous People in Pre-Columbian North America. A Boy Called Slow by Joseph Bruchac is a great text to help students connect to what it was like to live in the great plains. 2. Include interesting pictures Students are hooked by good pictures in stories. Teaching the upper grades it is especially important to include images that ...
Read more

Primary Source Gallery Walk

Image
To get students engaged in learning about the Road to War (American Revolution), I had them do a gallery walk with primary sources. This is one of my favorite ways to get students to look closely at primary sources. These dynamic images really lend themselves to sparking questions and interesting observations. Students start with a stack of sticky notes and then silently walk around the room. They make observations, infer what the creator's purpose or intention might have been, and write any connections that they can make with background knowledge. I adore how students were fully focused on the primary sources and thinking deeply. They were excited to share their thoughts and hear their peers' ideas. 
Read more

Grumpy Dragon

Image
When my students are working on independent tasks, I have a screen display of things they must do, may do, and what they might have missed (catch up). It usually looks something like this: I also like to have a cheesy joke or fun image on there to be playful. One day, I added a picture of a grumpy dragon and the students loved it. I found myself wondering where the picture had come from. A few minutes later I discovered that it was a statue available on Amazon. I displayed the listing and asked my students if I should buy it. They said, "Yes!" and $30.00 later my very own grumpy dragon was bought and paid for. Here are some things I noticed as we discussed if we should get grumpy dragon: 1. The dimensions were listed and students had no idea how big grumpy dragon would be (this was during trimester 2, so my teacher heart was panicking that they didn't recognize the measurements or relate it to the volume project we had done this year). 2. While students were unsure how bi...
Read more